CHICAGO – White Sox right fielder Nomar Mazara entered Tuesday’s contest with 16 hits in 2020. Thirteen of those were singles, with three doubles mixed in for a player with 79 home runs over his past four seasons.

Missing time with strep throat at the start of the season set back Mazara and his power stroke, he explained Tuesday.

“I spent two weeks at my home without grabbing a bat,” Mazara said. “So, those two weeks really did me dirty, and when I came back, I was like lost. I was just going out there and trying to grind, trying to have good at-bats.

“The power is not there yet. But once I hit the first one, everything's going to fit good.”

Mazara has not been without big hits, delivering an important two-run, ninth-inning single Monday in a lefty-lefty matchup against Minnesota closer Taylor Rogers.

“You guys are going to see it in the next couple of games because I wasn’t feeling good at all [offensively] when I got sick, after I was cleared to go back,” Mazara said. “But now, I was working with Cooly [assistant hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh] and Franky [hitting coach Frank Menechino] early out there to try to simplify everything, and I’ve been feeling really, really good lately.”

No certainty for Moncada return
Third baseman Yoán Moncada, sidelined by soreness in his left hamstring for the past three games, hit pregame Tuesday but did so in a controlled setting in the cage. Optimism exists for a Moncada return Wednesday, but manager Rick Renteria wouldn’t guarantee anything.

The White Sox believe they can control and isolate Moncada’s soreness and get him back without a trip to the 10-day injured list.

White Sox visit George Floyd Memorial
Renteria, first-base coach Daryl Boston and shortstop Tim Anderson visited the George Floyd Memorial on Tuesday afternoon prior to the White Sox contest at Target Field. Floyd, an African American man, was killed May 25 while being detained by Minneapolis police officers.

“Listen. It was a moment in time that has sparked a lot of emotion; sad day,” Renteria said. “We’re here. Thought it was a good thing to go out and just pay our respects.

“Things have been going on here as of late that are speaking to situations, talking about injustices. It was important to go out there, just to see. I’m glad I went.”

Renteria also spoke of a relationship of trust built with Anderson.

“There are a lot of things that go on in our own personal lives that we’ve been able to share with each other to make a connection,” Renteria said. “It’s important maybe for people to see we’re all really created equally. We’re all the same.

“Like my kids at home, all these young men are like my kids. It’s important for us to be able to get a pulse of them and understand what they’re going through and some of the things they’re experiencing and seeing presently in 2020.

“We should, as is stated, be our brother’s keeper and color should not be an issue. Race, religion, we should be caring for each other. That’s what we’re about, hopefully that’s what it’s about.”

Abreu talks of meeting
José Abreu was one of seven White Sox players who took part in a pre-Trade Deadline meeting Sunday in Chicago with White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, general manager Rick Hahn and executive vice president Ken Williams.

“I felt so honored just to be considered to be a part of that meeting,” said Abreu through interpreter Billy Russo. “It was like a family gathering, like a family discussion about the state of the team and what we wanted to do and how we wanted to approach different things.

“We were able to just be on the same page about what we want to do. For us as players, it was a very important, a very honest meeting. We shared our opinions about things, and moving forward, we're going to be as good as we have been, or even better. It was a very, very good meeting for all of us.”

Third to first
• Outfielder Nicky Delmonico was outrighted to the team’s alternate training site in Schaumburg, Ill.

• The White Sox went 19-9 (.679) in August, their most wins in the month since 1983 (22-9) and highest winning percentage in any month since April 2016 (17-8, .680).

He said it
“They told me to stay positive, to stay in a good mood and be confident in myself and my talent. That was huge for me. And I understand as an athlete, you won't have a good time every time. You're going to have peaks and valleys, but you have to try to keep your mood and your approach the whole time. I understand that that's normal.” -- Luis Robert, on advice from veteran teammates to help him adjust to Major League life